By a Demon's Tomfoolery
by HMS Siren
Summary: "That's right," Rin said, shooting a pair of finger guns at the trio. Angel immediately went back to glowering at him but Rin didn't care. "I wouldn't even worry about the boot camp, anyway. With your guys' skillsets, it'll be a breeze." Shura couldn't help the grin that spread across her lips as she placed her palm over her heart. This was going to be fun. [One-Shot]


**A/N:**

**Hails: WHOOOO! And finally, after so many months, I not only provide a sign that I am alive but a decent-sized piece that I did in collaboration with you-may-call-me-meme for the Reverie Zine. It's a Role Swap AU with Shura, Angel, and Lewin as the exwires and nods to Rin, Izumo, and Shiemi as the teachers with Rin being the most prevalent. That being said, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**I disregard any claims to the characters, setting, or plot of Blue Exorcist/青の祓魔師, which are a property of the mangaka Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.**

* * *

The blistering sun beat down on True Cross Academy, folding a blanket of humidity over the sky. Cicadas screamed in the trees, filling the air with an unholy sound akin to the one hobgoblins made when they were being exorcised.

Hidden away between the buildings and lush, summery green, a pocket of relief encompassed a small handful of students, each seeking to soothe the temperature.

Shura groaned, dousing her face and chest with the trickling, glimmering fountain water. The courtyard at True Cross Academy was, for the most part, graciously empty, save for those who had to suffer her complaining. "It's too hot."

"Yes, I do recall that we're being hit with a heatwave," Angel murmured. He didn't so much as look up at her, too preoccupied with the thick pages of a dusty grimoire. By the look of his tied, silky blond hair, cool blue eyes, and square jaw, anyone who glanced at Angel the first time wouldn't have considered him the studious type. Shura, however, had had a whole semester to figure out the exact kind of contradictions he possessed.

Before she could retort, a raucous shout shrilled into the air, followed by a colorful blur, an enormous splash, and a symphony of glitzy shrieks. Lightning popped out of the water, grinning like the Mad Hatter and surrounded by a swarm of luminous sylphs. Shura, soaked head to toe, saw fit to start flicking the water from her eyes and scheme a way to hide her classmate's body so the police wouldn't catch her. To her right, Angel let out a weary sigh and stowed his book somewhere to dry. At least she wasn't the only one enduring this nonsense.

"Any particular reason you decided to do that, Lewin?" Angel asked, bringing his tie loose.

Lightning shrugged. "I'm hot," he simply said.

"You and me both." Shura rung out her hair. Though she felt much cooler now, she was bound to start reheating in a few moments. With a lightning-quick peek around both sides of the fountain and all corners of the courtyard, she started undoing the button-up she had on over her light undershirt. "Don't let the teachers see me."

At this, Angel sputtered and turned bright red while Lewin, whose mop of ratted hair concealed his eyes, smiled and politely chose to keep watch on a congregating trio of teachers.

"_What are you doing?_" Angel seethed, covering his face.

"Calm down, Sir Purity," Shura replied, shrugging her uniform shirt off. "I have a tank top on."

"Regardless-"

"Stop whining, it'll be fine."

"Have some respect for your own body."

"I am," Shura claimed. "I'm trying to keep from getting heatstroke. I think doing that is more respectful than just lying down and taking it."

Angel, knowing she was right, huffed and went straight to pretending she didn't exist.

"Your fun ain't lasting long, Shura," Lightning said helpfully. He dragged his body out of the fountain and plopped down on the edge, sylphs flickered and danced around him, giggling their undeserved praises. "Teacher's on their way over."

If Shura could curse the gods, she would. With a long string of oaths foul enough to make snow blush, she whipped her shirt back on as fast as possible. "Whatever you do, do not let Ms. Kamiki see me!"

"Let who see you?"

Shura bristled and jumped so high she could have rivaled a Cat Sith. She resisted the urge to whirl around, already knowing who greeted them. The signature blackened scowl on Angel's face was more than enough to confirm that.

"No one, none of your business!" Shura snapped out.

Rin all but frowned and otherwise made a face of confusion, one that was honestly too adorable for the Son of freakin' Satan of all people. Shura had made a point of choosing not to care about her teacher's demonic heritage, all the while ignoring the scandalized remarks Angel had on the matter—it wasn't like he hid his disdain for Rin. As for Lewin and his unfounded curiosity about demons, well, the less said about that the better. Besides, Rin was a surprisingly cool teacher. His overt casual attitude and lax grading system meant that Shura excelled as a swordswoman, even better he didn't mind that they used his given name without the honorifics. Surprisingly, though, he was a stickler for the dress code and that was all the motivation Shura needed to snap her buttons back up. The last thing she wanted was a lecture about decency from Gehenna's spawn.

"O… kay?" Rin trailed off, his bright blue eyes drifting away to glance elsewhere. "Anyway… It's nice to see you guys again. I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to catch you after today but I'm glad I did."

"What's up, teach?" Shura asked. She pulled her legs up to sit criss-cross on the fountain's rim, reminded once more of her soaked clothes and eternally thankful that Rin didn't comment on them.

"There's going to be a week-long boot camp happening just before summer break and we need to go over some of the requirements."

A chorus of whining groans and protests filled the courtyard, making Rin wince and absently paw at his elfish ears. "I know, _I know. _Break is so close and we're shunting a bunch of work onto you, it sucks. I've been there."

The exwires didn't even look a little impressed with the excuse and the circumstances could go all the way to hell and back for how little they cared, and Rin knew it. He didn't have the enmity for it when he was a student but his classmates at the time made sure he was familiar with it. The best he could do for his exwires was make sure they knew there were rewards for the hard work they'd have to put in.

"Hold on, you guys," Rin assured them. "It's a promotional exam, if you guys do your best and follow instructions, you can prove you're worthy of participating in field missions with some of the higher level exorcists. In other words-"

"We'll actually get to start exorcising demons." Angel gave off the impression that he was about ready to haul himself into the fountain out of sheer excitement, though you wouldn't be able to know if you didn't look for the subtle signs.

"That's right," Rin said, cracking a grin and shooting a pair of finger guns at the trio. Angel immediately went back to glowering at him but Rin didn't care. "I wouldn't even worry about the boot camp, anyway. With your guys' skillsets, it'll be a breeze."

Shura couldn't help the grin that spread across her lips as she placed her palm over her tattooed heart. This was going to be fun.

* * *

She was wrong. It was not fun.

If Rin were standing right in front of Shura at this very moment, she would have cussed him out in front of everyone. _The promotional exwire boot camp would be easy, _her left foot_. _What kind of teacher would lie to their students and then unleash a maniacal naga on them?

The Son of Satan apparently.

Lungs burning and ankle screaming with a venomous infection, she hauled Angel off the ground and into the nearest tree, scrambling them both up to a branch she prayed was unreachable.

"_Are you out of your mind?_" She hissed, jabbing a finger into his chest.

"I had it!" He protested.

"Had it? It was going to eat you alive!"

"Caliburn was about to lend me their strength so I could defeat it."

"We're not supposed to defeat it, you-" Shura cut herself off, biting her tongue before she could go on an unnecessary tangent. "Look. If you were paying attention, then you would know that a naga wouldn't just spawn in a forest, especially not here. It's a familiar, if we kill it, we could end up in some hot water with whoever summoned it." Angel opened his mouth to counter but was promptly shut up when Shura slapped a hand over his lips. "Besides, the goal of this activity is to get past the demons and to the finish line _with the lantern _in the allotted time. We can't waste what we have."

To Shura's great relief, Angel conceded to her words and shut his mouth to think.

"Okay, okay, _fine,_" He bit out after a hot minute. "Assume you're right. That thing is too fast to get around on our own, much less with that giant lantern the Son of Satan assigned us to retrieve."

Shura suppressed a groan. "Lighting told me he had a plan and to trust him-"

"Lightning?!" Angel whisper-screamed. "You let Lightning run off to make the plan? _Now?_"

And if she did? Angel's death bringing glare made Shura want to smack him for all the guilt she felt. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to let Lewin dip out into the dark forest in the middle of the night, distractedly proclaiming that he had a plan while waving his beat-up journal around—a journal, Shura distinctly remembered, with pages full of copies of a variety of summoning circles. Oh, deity, she really did leave the schemer of the group without a chaperone, didn't she?

"I know this is difficult but try to have faith in him," Shura said, her eyes absently slipping to the beaten path they'd come down just moments prior. She gritted her teeth, trying with the utmost patience to ignore the pain rolling around her leg. She didn't think naga were venomous, but who knew what it had been hooked up with or whether or not she was wrong.

Angel held a composure that suggested he'd just been punched in the gut and his face was awfully pale. It occurred to her that if Angel was bleeding, then she wouldn't know where, not through his layers of clothes. She didn't want to admit it but the situation looked dreary and was getting worse by the second.

Just as she thought to say something else to ease the tension, a ripple of energy pulsed through the ground, climbed up the trees, and sent the entire world staggering.

Before Angel could so much as get an "_oh no" _out, the clearing exploded. Two enormous steeds with flaming manes and tails roared into existence, streaks of lightning scintillating around their figures. A sharp whistle pierced the air. Angel's and Shura's heads swiveled around to find Lightning waving furiously at them, perched on the peg lantern, other hand hovering over the seal holding it down.

"Grab a ride, you guys!"

"While they're still moving?!" Shura shouted. Her focus danced between the coiling, slithering naga and the stallions that dashed around it, teasing it.

"Hey, I just summoned them, you guys are gonna have to tame them on your own!" Lewin shouted back. He dug his fingers underneath the seal, peeling it away. "Three seconds!"

Three seconds to jump onto one of these things' back. Lightning really was out of his mind. But then, Shura wouldn't have it any other way. Shoving down her apprehension and trying not to grin, she leaped from the tree and into the crackling flames.

The heat enveloped her in a blanket of smoke and embers. It devoured her whole, whispering an unheard call of judgment. The steed's back slammed into her chest, knocking the wind clean out of her lungs. Taking a ragged breath, she crawled upward until she was straddling the magnificent beast. She did a sweep of the area, immediate respite flooding her at the sight of Angel scrabbling for purchase on the other horse. Her mount passed in front of Lightning just long enough for her to catch a glimpse of the seal coming off.

"Yooooohooooooo!" Lightning practically sang, pointing at Shura. "Take a look, big guy. There's a dame on that there horsy, go get 'er!"

Shura debated the appropriateness of the use of a crude gesture for all of two seconds when both steeds went careening down past the naga and surrounding trees, followed by an overly bouncy, woman-loving peg lantern on which Lightning was clinging to for dear life. She tilted her head back and cackled, loudly, raucously, letting it fill the air in overjoyed intervals.

The naga gave chase, snapping at them whenever it could. The rush of adrenaline crackled in Shura's veins and had her heart pounding like the engine of a car on nitrous. With the steadily closing space between the steeds and the dim glow of the campground, she supposed there really wasn't much to worry about. Well, you know, until the steeds hurled her and Angel headfirst off their backs and sent them skidding across the dirt. The steeds dissipated seconds later, leaving no trace of their presence except for the couple particles that were disturbed when the peg lantern slammed down past the metaphorical finish line.

A beat of silence. Then the teachers started clapping, half-impressed whistles and applause circulating the campfire. Somewhere in the group, a teacher started howling with laughter. As Shura peeled her dirt-streaked face off the ground, she noticed the soft, gentle hands of Ms. Moriyama slowly aiding her and Angel to their feet. In the corner of her eye, Izumo took off to help Lightning get the stomping peg lantern under control while Rin shooed the naga away with a few flattering words.

It was then that the weight of the boot camp, now finished, crashed down onto Shura. She whirled around to face Rin with the intention to chew him out when Ms. Moriyama placed a polite palm over her mouth. The gentle smile she gave Shura was more than enough to cool her down and allow some abetting to the first-aid canopy. The heady scent of herbal, earthy mixtures clouded Shura's head as Ms. Moriyama helped her slide onto a bench underneath the awning, quietly lulled into a sense of security. The teacher's nimble fingers worked quickly between the bandages and the remedies, uncapping something that smelled faintly of aromatic lavender. Shura hissed as the concoction streamed over her ankle, stinging before bringing sweet alleviation.

"Man, what was all that about?" Shura finally asked. "Seems kind of unnecessary."

Ms. Moriyama opened her mouth to retort, although beyond the haze of the dried herbs and plants, Shura couldn't make any of it out. Faintly, in the back of her head, Shura was aware of the thoughtful care put into healing her injuries, as well as Angel's, both physical and mental. As Shura tried to decipher it, eyes narrowed and face scrunched up in concentration, a burst of pink and purple went off in the center of the campground, making her jerk violently and yelp.

All eyes turned to the headmaster, who was crooning and clapping minutes too late.

"Congratulations, exwires!" Mephisto shouted eagerly. "That was quite a show you put on, dazzling, rife with suspense. I'm proud of all of you."

'_Are you now?' _Shura thought bitterly. If she were honest, with all the gaudy, bright colors and unnecessary drama, she could hardly take the headmaster seriously.

"As promised, all of you have now been approved for field missions!"

Underneath the ecstatic cheering and the rain of confetti and sparkles, Shura quietly grumbled to herself. Yes, she had been rewarded but that didn't make her outlook at the moment any less bleak.

"I'm gonna put a snake in his pants."

Ms. Moriyama said nothing, only mutedly humming something of an agreement.


End file.
